Traction attachment for thrashers



. (No Model.)-

3., A. 8n 0. HOWLAND.

TRACTION ATTACHMENT FOR THRASHERS.

No. 451,557. Patented May 5,1891.

zwmcE-ssE-s iww MM 5 49 m fl fia fedr-o m: NORRIS PiTERS m1, mam, mswwurou n c UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE EPHRAIM HOVLAND, ALFRED HOWLAND, AND CHARLES HOTVLAND, OF PONTIAC, MICHIGAN.

TRACTION ATTACHMENT FOR THRASHERS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 451,557, dated May 5, 1891.

Application filed January 14, 1839. Serial No. 296,330. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, EPHRAIM HOWLAND, ALFRED HowLAND, and OHARLES'HOWLAND, citizens of the United States, residing at Pontiac, county of Oakland, State of Michigan, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Traction Attachments for Thrashers; and we declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification.

In the drawings, Figure l is a View illustrating ourimprovement, showing the operation of the traction attachment for pulling the machine into place and shifting it forward and backward. Fig. 2, is another view showing the apparatus with the engine engaged with the truck-wheels, so as to move or assist in moving the machine from place to place.

This invention is designed as an improvement on the general apparatus patented by Ephraim Howland in Patent No. 385,627, dated July 3, 1888.

It is-the purpose of our invention to combine with a thrashing-machine or seed-separator an engine for driving its operative mechanism, and traction mechanism whereby the same engine may, when thrown out from gear with the said thrashing or separating apparatus, be geared with the truck wheel or wheels, and so propel or assist in propelling the machine from place. to place, steam be-.

in g supplied from a portable steam-boiler attached to the front or rear of the machine.

Another feature of our invention consists in the provision of awindlass or drum upon the machine adapted to be geared at will with the steam-engine, and a cable wound thereon adapted to be drawn out and engaged to a stationary object, through the medium of which apparatus the engine may be utilized to draw the machine into the barn or to shift it forward or backward.

"In carrying out our invention Arepresents any thrashing-machine or seed-separator, and in this connection we would have it understood that for such machines of different construction the particular location and construction and arrangement of the difierent parts of our attachment may be correspondingly varied to suit the requirements of any particular machine without departing from our invention.

B is a portable steam-boiler.

O is a steam-engine located on the machine; D, a steam-hose to lead steam from the portable boiler to the engine. This engine is adapted for engagement by belt or otherwise with any suitable part-as, for instance, the thrashing or separating cylinder of the machine-whereby the machine is operated; but

location of the engine beneath the machine and the arrangement of parts whereby the engine is geared with the operative mechanism of the machine constitute no part of this invent-ion, but the same is embodied in a separate application for Letters Patent by Ephraim Howland, filed January 1.1, 1889, Serial'No. 296,094.

E is a traction-gear, and it may be upon one or more of the truck-wheels E or the corresponding axles.

E represents any suitable belt, chain, or other gearing, whereby the motion of the engine may be communicated to the truckwheels of the machine.

G in Fig. 2 is a Windlass or drum upon which a rope, chain, or cable G is wound. This drum is adapted in any suitable way for engagement by rope g, chain, or otherwise, with the engine, so that at the will of the operator, he may use the power to operate the said Windlass.

A is the pole of the thrashing-machine, and any suitable connection a may be employed, whereby when in transit from place to'place it may be engaged with the boiler.

The nature of our invention will now be understood.

Portable engines, such as are employed with thrashing-machines and the like, are usually of so great weight that ordinary highway-bridges are apt to give way beneath the load, and in passing over soft ground on the road or in thefield it is apt to sink in and become stalled, requiring the effort of several teams to dislodge it, and with corresponding liability to injury. These difiiculties are greatly increased when the portable engine is a traction-engine, since the traction mechanism adds greatly to its weight. On the other hand, a portable boiler when stripped of cngine and traction mechanism is light and wieldy, capable of passing over any ordinary bridge without danger and so light as not to sink in and require the exertion of more than an ordinary team to pull it over soft roads and fields. So, again, the thrashing-maehine is light, and when provided with the increased weight due to the addition of an engine and traction mechanism is still within the limits of a single team and suitable for ordinary bridges, roads, and soft ground. If, therefore, the traction-engine is capable of exerting the power of a team of horses, the stripping of the boiler and the change of the engine and traction mechanism to the machine effect a very valuable purpose. Thus, as shown in Fig. 2, the machine may be coupled with the boiler and the steam-hose be connected therewith. Then with a team at the pole of the boiler the traction-engine on the machine may serve to take care of the latter and may also assist to push the boiler, and no part of the mechanism has too great weight for bridges, roads, and soft ground. Then it is almost always a diflicult matter to pull a thrashing-machine or separator into the barn and properly locate it upon the floor.

hen a machine is about to be brought into the barn, it is customary to detach the team from the pole, connect the team with a chain fastened to the rear end of the machine, and so pull it into the barn. \Vhen a team is thus detached from the pole, it is usually unsteady and disconcerted. So, also, it is usual for the team to start at a quick motion, so as to give the machine a good start, and this results usually in its entering the barn with a rush. At the same time a man at the pole of the machine guides the machine as it is pulled by the team. He is apt to lose control, more or less, and a fore wheel striking an object may throw the pole to one side, and so the machine as it goes quickly into the barn may shift to one side or the other. This is apt to injure the machine or persons working about it by crushing the parts of persons into the sides of the door, and is liable also to result in strains or injuries to the horses. Our invention overcomes this difliculty also, for when the boiler has been suitably located and a sufficient length of steam-hose coiled up or laid slack, as shown in Fig. 1, and connected therewith, the rope or chain or cable G may be run off from the drum G and engaged with any stationary object (l inside or outside the barn. The drum being then engaged with the driving-power and the engine started up, the rope G is wound upon the drum, thereby pulling the machine slowly and steadily up into the barn and to its proper position. The windlass and rope or chain may also be used to help the machine out of a mud-hole or up a steep incline, and by proper gearing might, at the expense of. speed in the operation, be made to exert a very strong eifort to this end. This same traction attachment may be in like manner employed whenever it is desired to shift the machine through a small distance.

\Ve would have it understood that the engine may be geared with the truck-wheels and the winding-drum by any convenient means, that shown in the drawing being intended only to indicate one kind of connection.

The driving-belts of the machine may be thrown off when the engine is used for traction, or there may be arranged any ordinary mechanism for throwing the power into or out of gear with any particular part without disturbing the belts.

The boiler, if desired, may also have a steam traction apparatus connected with it without departing from our invention; but we prefer to use a team of horses with the boiler, and not to load it down with tract-ion apparatus.

By the term steam-hose is meant any suitable conduit.

A utter-tank (not shown in the drawings) may, if desired, be carried on a truck between the boiler and the machine.

\Vhat we claim is 1. The combination of a thrasher and separator mounted on a truck, a steam-engine also carried by said truck and adapted to operate the thrasher, gearing for connecting the engine with the truck-wheels, a portable boiler on an independent truck, and a flexible connection between the boiler and engine to supply said engine with steam, substantially as described.

2. The combination, with a thrasher and separator, of a steam-engine located thereon and adapted to be geared with the carryingwheels, said engine being also adapted to gear with and operate the separator mechanism, and a winding-drum and cable adapted to be engaged at will with said engine, whereby the engine may be utilized to pull the machine into a barn or move it within restricted limits independently of its gearing with the carrying-wheels, substantially as described.

3. The combination, with a thrasher and separator having a driving-engine mounted thereon, a portable steam-boiler upon a separate and independent truck, and a long flexible steam-connection between the boiler and engine, of a cable connected with a stationary object and adapted to be wound up by the engine to pull the machine into a barn or move it within restricted limits, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof we sign-this specification in the presence of two witnesses.

EPIIRAIM HOXVLAND. ALFRED HOXVLAND. CHARLES HOWLANI). Witnesses:

W. R. OWEN, ELMER R. WEBSTER. 

